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| Honestly I feel like the comic book abs are more believable. Damn you Ryan Reynolds. |
The trailer for the upcoming adaptation of DC comics' "Green Lantern" franchise (now 70 years old) sports Ryan Reynolds giving a quick ab-flash (for the ladies), piloting some experimental jets, giving some pseudo-deep voiceover, bantering with a wooden Blake Lively, battling with a ridiculously bald Peter Sarsgaard, and grappling with some seriously shoddy CGI.
The trailer can be viewed here.
I loved superheroes as a kid. I still love them to some extent. Since the success of the first X-Men film in 2000, comic book franchises have dominated Hollywood to mixed results. Films like The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and the first batches of X-Men and Spider Man sequels showed that there was indeed some depth and gravitas to be found in those serial illustrated sagas.
Unfortunately, the majority of comic book adaptations have been mediocre at best (The Incredible Hulk) and downright offensive at worst (The Fantastic Four anyone?). I'll reserve judgement on this newest foray into the D.C. universe until I see it in theatres, but based on the trailer, I'll be heading into the local Megaplex with low expectations. That might actually work in the movies favor.
Just as a P.S., the credits of Green Lantern do score some points for the following components:
A) Director Martin Campbell, who helmed 1995's "Goldeneye" and 2006's "Casino Royale," two of the best James Bond films in the canon, as well as that wonderful 1997 homage to the swashbucklers of the 1930s, "The Mask of Zorro."
B) Ryan Reynolds. While it is yet to be seen whether he is a truly talented actor, I do find him to be incredibly likable. He has the makings of a movie star and is well on his way to acheiving that status.
C) Peter Sarsgaard. While he may look incredibly silly with that swollen, pink, CGI noggin in the trailer, the man has a great track record with his turns in films like "Garden State" and "Jarhead." He brings some definite indie cred to this iffy production.
I think studios are really just going down the list of potential superhero's they can translate over to the big screen and see if the audience eats it up. Because really, the only consistently bankable comic book-originated superhero of the last, what, two decades has been Batman...and the Superman movies from the 70's/80's with Christopher Reeves. Now the Superman franchise has been sunk and who knows when the next reboot will be which leaves us with Nolan and the direction he's taking with Batman, and even then I hear that he only wants to do one more film or so. Spider-man is also being rebooted, those films did amazing box-office wise. I kind of like that some of the more obscure superhero's are getting a chance to shine, like, take Iron Man for instance. Definitely not as popular as say a Bat/Superman but it worked out pretty well for the first one a few years back. I'm eager to see how it plays out with the Green Lantern.
ReplyDeleteI heard about this film a while ago, but never really ever bother to look into it. This is the first time that I've seen the trailer and it looks alright.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marco that the studios are just going down the list with the comic book super heroes. Thats because most original movies that are coming out on theaters aren't that good. So the only way that they can make sure that they'll make money, is by making films about stories that have been in the works for a few decades.
The CG does look a little weird at times, but that's just because I was looking for it. I'm sure that once your in the theater, you won't notice it as much.